‘What happens with relegation?’ - Man City 115-charge FFP case remains ‘complicated’ as appeals against any punishments threaten Premier League & EFL disruption

There is no suggestion that the Blues will go from Premier League champions to EFL newcomers in the space of 12 months, but various punishments are being speculated on in a Financial Fair Play soap opera that involves at least 115 charges.

If City are found guilty of monetary mismanagement then they could be stung with a hefty points penalty, which may be enough to put their top-flight status under threat. They would, however, be expected to question that ruling – which would delay any definitive action even further.

City’s former financial adviser, Stefan Borson, fears a protracted saga may have more twists and turns to come.. He has told Football Insider: “I think there’s been some sort of debate about whether you would have a split appeal process or whether effectively the parties will be told to wait until the full judgment and then to appeal the liability and the sanction together. I think it’ll be the latter. Otherwise, you could have the complexity where the liability hearing is being appealed while waiting for the sanction hearing, so that would seem to be a bit confusing.

“I think the appeal will probably have to wait until we’ve got the full verdict. If it’s a two-week sanctions set of submissions and a separate hearing, then you have got to then wait for the decision to come out on that. That itself could be a month, six weeks or maybe more. The Everton and the Nottingham Forest cases were effectively sanction hearings because liability had been admitted.

“We saw those took around six weeks, maybe longer from the actual panel to the decision, so this is going to drag on. Now it looks like it’s going to drag on until the end of the season. In some ways, that could suit everybody involved.

“It’s only going to drag on to the end of the season if City are found liable for anything. If they’re clear, then the question will be what will the Premier League want to do about an appeal? But if City are found liable for anything, this could drag on until the end of the season. In some ways, that’s positive in that it allows people to deal with it in the closed season to an extent.

“But if the sanction is very serious, then you’ve got the issue of what happens with relegation or which season do you take the points from and all of that sort of stuff. It’s always been complicated, and it remains complicated. I don’t think anybody’s got very precise answers at the moment.”

City have maintained their innocence throughout, with the club’s decision to spend heavily again in the winter transfer window of 2025 – ahead of another big summer – considered to be an indicator of confidence that the toughest of sanctions will be avoided.